Nasty Accident

[General Lee 01]

Last week, there was a John Deere Open Cab tractor going down a country road near my grandad's house, w/ a brush hog in-tow. A Ford Ranger slammed into the brush hog and flew into the back of the tractor. The Truck flipped on it's side after landing on the back wheel and tipping over. The guy on the Tractor got  thrown off and Survived. The guy in the Ranger was held on life support for 2 days, then passed away. I think the Ranger driver fell asleep cause this was a flat, straight stretch of road. I just think it's wierd (in a miraculous sort of way) that the guy on the tractor survived.

[NewbieZ71]

Everyone is pretty prepared for the normal events of the road but when fced with something out of the ordinary like coming up behind a slow moving tractor pulling another piece of machinery we tend to freeze or not even realize whats going on till too late.  A fellow who worked for me was driving a van down the Palisades Parkway in NJ.  A tractor/trailor had gotten stuck under an overpass (its illegal for T/T to even be on the Parkway because of the low overpasses) and was stopped in the right lane just short of the overpass.  A witness said that my guy never realized the truck was stopped and just plowed into the rear of it at 60 mph.  Killed him obviously.  Everyone is somewhat prepared for cars pulling out, animals, etc.  not things like a T/T stopped dead in the middle of a major highway.

[Shaners]

We have a problem with the Amish around here...  Those buggies are road hogs and slow movers...  It's quite a shock when you come over a knoll and there is one trotting along at 10 mph!!!

I never did understand why we don't make them pay road tax...  Those horshoes and steel wheeled buggies do alot of damage!!!

[mblrds]

Yeah, it seems that when you see a slow moving vehicle or farm equipment on the road ahead, you're upon it quicker than you'd thought.

The reverse also happens.  You're stopped at a STOP sign and you look and see a approaching car and think "Not enough distance to pull out", and the car ends up just puttering along and you had plenty of time to pull out into traffic!

[Jpshostr]

I've been on both side of it, and can tell you that responsibility goes both ways to prevent an accident.  As a tractor driver you always have to be alert as to what is coming from every direction, where all parts of your machine are (some of these things transport at 20ft wide), and what other drivers are doing (are they passing you, staying behind you, etc.).  As a driver you have to make sure you give the machine plenty of room, if you are going to pass make sure you have plenty of room to do so, and be very alert for sudden left turns.  With a lot of this farm equipment the driver cannot see behind him, and some of the more careless operators do not make a left hand turn proberly, they just turn.  

Many a time I've had to hit the ditch with a tractor and take out roadsigns because drivers pass when another car is approaching.  I have also sent two drivers into the ditch that tried to pass me when they shouldn't have, but I couldn't move because I was pulling about 40 tons of grain.  I've also been hit from behind, not serious at all, but I was hit none the less.  

Whenever you see something slow in front of you, BE CAREFUL AND SLOW DOWN!!!  Remember that if you take on heavy equipment, you will lose whether you are in a pickup or a car.